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CASA de Maryland

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CASA de Maryland

CASA (formerly CASA de Maryland) is a Latino and immigration advocacy-and-assistance organization based in Maryland. It is active throughout the state, but has major foci in Prince George's County, Montgomery County and Baltimore. CASA influences Maryland politics on a wide range of policies, ranging from law-enforcement to education. It also has offices in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

CASA was originally known as the "Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland". The organization's name was officially changed to CASA of Maryland, Inc., on July 28, 1995. The organization's name was officially changed to CASA de Maryland, Inc., on September 4, 2008. Now, the organization is named CASA.

CASA was founded in 1985 in the basement of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church by US citizens and Central American immigrants. It has since expanded its scope. It is affiliate organization of the National Council of La Raza. They are a member of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. CASA is also a founding member of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, which promotes "comprehensive immigration reform".

In June 2010, CASA opened a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) multicultural center in the heart of Langley Park and located in the former Langley Park mansion. The project was budgeted at $31 million in 2007. Governor Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, said at the fundraising kickoff for the project, "In our Maryland, there's no such thing as a spare American".

CASA offers health assistance, medical interpretations, English classes, financial literacy classes, vocational training, social services, leadership development, legal services, and employment placement for low-income families, particularly Latino immigrants and other immigrants. CASA provides legal support to the large and growing community of immigrants—documented or otherwise—in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. They have successfully promoted a wide range of legislation in support of the immigrant community, including a Maryland law that requires reasonable access to government services for people with limited English proficiency. CASA is very aggressive in pursuing absconding employers, contractors who do not pay their day-laborers.

CASA is also involved in housing law and advocacy. In 2004, CASA attorney Kimberley A. Propeack told the Daily Record that the group's housing attorney represents immigrants who are targeted by landlords if they raise concerns or try to form residents' associations. CASA has rescued a number of victims of domestic slavery, also known as human trafficking.

Currently, CASA is one of the leading plaintiffs in the pending Supreme Court case Trump v. CASA. The case is suing the Trump administration on their attempt to end birthright citizenship. CASA is representing a group of a five pregnant women in the case.

CASA operates five day labor centers throughout the state of Maryland, with public and private funding; three centers are in Montgomery County. These centers, run by CASA on behalf of the county government under contract, provide central sites where contractors can pick up day-laborers. The centers have sparked protests and counter-protests. The center near Shady Grove was damaged by a fire within its first month of operation; the fire was ruled to be arson and classified a "hate incident" by county police. The centers allow day laborers to seek work without violating Gaithersburg's anti-solicitation ordinance, a law that makes it a misdemeanor to conduct hires in public places. Most of the opposition centers around the assumption that many of the day-laborers in Montgomery County are undocumented workers, mostly from Central America.

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